Research Catalog
The wizard and the prophet : two remarkable scientists and their dueling visions to shape tomorrow's world
- Title
- The wizard and the prophet : two remarkable scientists and their dueling visions to shape tomorrow's world / Charles C. Mann.
- Author
- Mann, Charles C.
- Publication
- New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2018.
- ©2018
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| Status | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schwarzman Building to submit a request in person. | Text | Use in library | JFE 18-3770 | Schwarzman Building - Main Reading Room 315 |
Details
- Description
- x, 616 pages : illustrations, maps; 24 cm
- Summary
- Presents two influential scientists, William Vogt (1902-1968), and Norman Borlaug (1914-2009), whose diametrically opposed views shaped modern understandings about the environment and related public policies.
- In forty years, Earth's population will reach ten billion. Can our world support that? What kind of world will it be? Those answering these questions generally fall into two deeply divided groups--Wizards and Prophets, as Charles Mann calls them in this balanced, authoritative, nonpolemical new book. The Prophets, he explains, follow William Vogt, a founding environmentalist who believed that in using more than our planet has to give, our prosperity will lead us to ruin. Cut back! was his mantra. Otherwise everyone will lose! The Wizards are the heirs of Norman Borlaug, whose research, in effect, wrangled the world in service to our species to produce modern high-yield crops that then saved millions from starvation. Innovate! was Borlaug's cry. Only in that way can everyone win! Mann delves into these diverging viewpoints to assess the four great challenges humanity faces--food, water, energy, climate change--grounding each in historical context and weighing the options for the future. With our civilization on the line, the author's insightful analysis is an essential addition to the urgent conversation about how our children will fare on an increasingly crowded Earth.--AMAZON.
- Subjects
- Environmental sciences
- Environmentalists
- Vogt, William, 1902-1968
- Biographies
- Environmental sciences > History > 20th century
- Borlaug, Norman E (Norman Ernest), 1914-2009
- Food security
- United States
- Water security
- 1900-1999
- Biography
- Climatic changes
- History
- Environmentalists > United States > Biography
- Energy security
- Genre/Form
- Biographies.
- Biography.
- History.
- Bibliography (note)
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 479-584) and index.
- Contents
- Prologue -- One law. State of the species -- Two men. The prophet -- The wizard -- Four elements. Earth : food -- Water : freshwater -- Fire : energy -- Air : climate change -- Two men. The prophet -- The wizard -- One future. The edge of the petri dish -- Appendix : why believe?
- Call Number
- JFE 18-3770
- ISBN
- 9780307961693
- 0307961699
- LCCN
- 2017024776
- OCLC
- 999673749
- Author
- Mann, Charles C., author.
- Title
- The wizard and the prophet : two remarkable scientists and their dueling visions to shape tomorrow's world / Charles C. Mann.
- Publisher
- New York : Alfred A. Knopf, 2018.
- Copyright Date
- ©2018
- Edition
- First edition.
- Type of Content
- text
- Type of Medium
- unmediated
- Type of Carrier
- volume
- Bibliography
- Includes bibliographical references (pages 479-584) and index.
- Chronological Term
- 1900-1999
- Research Call Number
- JFE 18-3770